Eliminating waste and expanding reuse, recycling, and composting programs - that is, aiming for zero waste - is one of the fastest, cheapest, and most effective strategies available for combating climate change.

GAIA's international network is organizing to support community-based movements for environmental justice, zero waste, and real climate solutions. We believe that a zero waste approach to managing our resources addresses the root causes of global warming while safeguarding human health and dramatically reducing our demand on natural resources.

As waste companies and other climate cons try to sell their incinerators and landfills as "renewable energy facilities" to governments worldwide, GAIA is working to expose these polluters' false claims and highlight the real climate solutions provided by a zero waste approach.

Organizing efforts across Asia, where the World Bank's Climate Development Mechanism (established under the Kyoto Protocol) is preparing to fund dozens of incinerators and hundreds of landfills under the guise of "greenhouse gas reductions;"

A regional campaign in Europe to strengthen European Union waste legislation, which is influential well beyond the region;

A national campaign in the United States to stop the spread of new incinerator proposals, and to ensure that no new subsidies are granted to end-of-pipe technologies in federal renewable energy legislation.

We are also supporting cities across the world that are demonstrating their commitment to sustainability and environmental justice by setting zero waste goals. These include Buenos Aires in Argentina, the state of Kerala in India, San Francisco in the U.S., and dozens of local organizing efforts that are being strengthened through GAIA's zero waste skillshares and the work of our member organizations.